Supporting The Challenge of the Cities

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Supporting The Challenge of the Cities
Brent Lanford www.brentlanford.com
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Many academic libraries are moving away from
traditional bibliographic instruction and
introducing innovation into their library
classes. In a 20-minute presentation, outline
how you would plan to introduce undergraduate
students in the class Challenge of the Cities to
library research. Describe how you would
prepare, what resources you would cover, the
teaching techniques you would use and how you
would assess the students learning.
Topic
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• Approach
• Preparation
• Resources
• Teaching Techniques
• Assessment

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The explosion of information presents challenges
as well as opportunities. Frustration and anxiety
are common feelings when students confront new
technologies.
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Everyone is busy. Sometimes it is best simply to
give someone information. find an answer
asap. provide efficient customer service.
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Give a Man a fish
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Teach a man to fish
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• More
• is not always
• better.

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Information management and organization is just
as important as information retrieval.
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Knowing a great deal is not the same as being
smart intelligence is not information alone but
also judgment, the manner in which information is
collected and used. -- Carl Sagan
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Goals
every student will

• Be delighted with his or her initial library
• experience
• Learn how to productively use research time
• and tools
• Have the enthusiasm and ability to learn more
• about urban issues
• Integrate research into his or her creative
• process

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• Approach
• Preparation
• Resources
• Teaching Techniques
• Assessment

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Preparation
Collaboration is crucial.

• Consult with professor
• Review syllabus and reading lists

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I would be sure I understood how this course fits
into the overall curriculum.
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USRP 100 Challenge of the Cities can serve as
one of two social science classes required under
the University of Marylands general education
requirements for undergraduate students.
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URSP 100

• Mostly non-majors and undergraduates
• Wide range of backgrounds and interests
• Very diverse set of information skills
• Varied ideas/feelings about libraries and
  information technology

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Preparation
Information skills are integral to learning.

• Utilize information competency standards
• Consult with other members of the Library team

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Some Findings of the Art Libraries Association

• First-year undergraduates and first-year
  graduate students are most common targets for
  information instruction.

• The most common mode of operation is to
  respond to requests from faculty to address
  specific class
• assignments.

• Most architecture school librarians do not have
  an instruction program that systematically covers
  all years of the students academic career and is
  increasingly sophisticated.

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Information literacy skills are divided into
three levels Basic Intermediate Advanced
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• Approach
• Preparation
• Resources
• Teaching Techniques
• Assessment

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Resources Competencies
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Postulates

• For non-majors and undergraduates, broadly
  applicable basic skills are more important than
  discipline-specific knowledge.
• More advanced students need more advanced
  information instruction and consulting services.
• Meet students where they are and extend their
  abilities.

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The Basics Orientation to Information

• Recognize that information needs vary according
  to context
• Match search strategy to a defined need
• Match appropriate resources to a defined need

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The Basics

• Library organization
• Physical layout
• Library of Congress classification system
• Key databases
• Avery Index, Environmental Issues Policy
  Index, Public Affairs Information Abstracts, etc.

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The Basics Searching vs. Browsing

• Search techniques
• Boolean queries (and, or, not,
• proximity operators, truncation, etc.)
• Multi-field search
• Browsing Techniques
• Hierarchical organization
• Faceted Browsing

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• Source DiedreCaldbeckConfPresentation11Apr06
  from www.washington.edu

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The BasicsEvaluation and Citation

• Evaluate information and sources by such criteria
  as relevance and coverage, authority, accuracy,
  objectivity, currency, and peer review process
• Summarize, organize and synthesize the
  information found
• Citation, intellectual property and plagiarism

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Developing a course tutorial or information
portal for each class would be my top priority.
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The Urban Studies and Planning Department offers
a great set of web links provided that students
can find them.
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Help students see how these issues impact their
own local environment. how this knowledge can
inform their own conduct and values. how their
peers have become involved
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• Approach
• Preparation
• Resources
• Teaching Techniques
• Assessment

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Teaching Techniques

• Live Instruction
• One-on-one research consulting
• Library instruction classes
• Availability for follow-up to BI sessions
• Virtual reference
• Instant Messaging
• Email
• Videoconferencing (e.g. Adobe Breeze Meeting)
• Online Tutorials
• MS PowerPoint (QuickTime movie)
• Flash
• Adobe Captivate, Camtasia

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• Approach
• Preparation
• Resources
• Teaching Techniques
• Assessment

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Assessment Strategies
Feedback from professor

• Collaborative staff evaluation at the end of each
  semester to improve services
• Assignments can be designed so that mastery of
  information competencies are integral to student
  success.

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Assessment Strategies

• Student Feedback
• Students can be encouraged to provide
  recommendations, requests, ratings and comments
• the old-fashioned way
• using Web 2.0 tools..

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TestingPrograms such as Captivate can be used to
create tutorials with review questions.
Assessment Strategies
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Assessment Strategies
Face-to-face interactions allow for the most
sophisticated assessments.

• Easy to ask questions
• Skills can be practiced and observed
• Emotional states body language, tone of voice

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Questions

• ?

Answers